United Brings Polaris To Saks, Opens Veggie Restaurant At Newark

United Airlines is promoting its new Polaris business class experience through an alliance with Saks Fifth Avenue, one of America’s most upscale brands.

At its flagship store on New York’s Fifth Avenue, 14 of Saks’ storefront windows display a replica of a United aircraft. The center six windows highlight various features of the Polaris experience, including “actual United Polaris seats.”

The Polaris cabin’s custom Saks Fifth Avenue bedding suite, which also will be available in Polaris lounges, also is on display.

Described by United as the result of “the first-of-its-kind relationship,” the luxury bedding includes plush duvets, lightweight day-blankets, and a large and small pillow for each Polaris customer. Mattress cushions are available upon request.

The themed windows will be on display until Jan. 22.

United’s Polaris product will debut on flights in February, beginning with its 777-300ER fleet this quarter and subsequently on Boeing 787-10 and A350-1000 aircraft. Its 767-300 and 777-200 also will be retrofitted.

The first of nine United Polaris lounges is open at Chicago O’Hare; the remainder will open this year and next.

United also is hopping onto the “vegetable-forward” foodie movement with the opening of Thyme, an all-vegetarian restaurant inside Newark’s Terminal C.

To bring the project to fruition (no pun intended), United partnered with OTG Management, a company that “reimagines” airport terminals, and with Chef Amanda Cohen, owner of Dirt Candy, one of New York’s top vegetarian restaurants.

Photo: Michael Marchese (OTG Experience)

Menu items include braised shitake mushroom, grilled Romanesco “steak” with cashew and creamed kale, purple yam fried “rice” with kimchi, grilled orange carrot, pan-roasted brussels sprouts and sunchoke ratatouille.

Thyme will offer iPads equipped with OTG’s customer experience platform, flo, that features the day’s menu, entertainment options and flight information. Customers also can purchase magazines, gifts and other sundries to be delivered to their table as they dine, and can pay for them with United miles.